Watching Kate
by TheresaJoliePitt
Summary: AU Season 3. Two men in Kate's life aren't who they seem to be. They've been hired by the senator to watch her...making sure she doesn't look into her mother's murder. (This is a Caskett fanfic, so don't be alarmed by the characters listed)
1. Chapter 1

_AN: This is the first of a 13 chapter fic. It's AU, even though some scenes are the same. I don't any of these characters and I don't own the show. I just came up with the AU idea and typed it up. I am recovering from the stomach flu, so I hope my editing skills don't show that. Don't be alarmed by the character list, this is a Caskett fic. This story is rated M, but not all the chapters will have M related content. I hope you all enjoy!_

He saw her punching the punching bag like no one he had ever seen before, especially a female. This might be harder than he thought. He walked over to the bag and offered to hold it for her. She accepted and he got to view her closer. She had great form, had a great body, and whoever trained her definitely did their job. He was knocked out of his thoughts when the sound of a cell phone rang.

"Beckett." She talked for a bit before she hung up the phone. She looked at him and gave him a soft smile. "Thanks."

He watches her walk away before he picks up the phone and dials a number.

"Did you find her?"

"I did. She's good."

"You have to make sure you're better than her. Do you job and make sure she doesn't do hers. Got it Demming?"

"Yes, sir." He hung up the phone and headed towards the locker room.

* * *

He wasn't expecting to meet her again so soon, but he had a feeling that this was part of his bosses doing...either that or it was some really good luck on his part. He was called to help with a homicide. She seemed happy to have him there, but her partner not so much. He was warned about the writer that shadowed her and he did not seem pleased that he was helping with the case. If only he knew what he was really doing there. He wasn't sure if they were dating, but he had a feeling that he would find out. If not, at least he knew that Castle was someone that he could use against her if he needed to.

Esposito though was welcoming, not forgetting about the times that they had worked together. That was before he had taken this offer to keep an eye on Kate Beckett and make sure she didn't look into her mother murder. It was going to be hard not to fall for her though. She was an attractive woman and if she kept looking at him that way, he wouldn't be able to help himself...even if it was just for a night.

He discussed the case with her and to his delight, she told Castle to sit at her desk while they went to interrogate a possible suspect. He watches her interrogate them and she's good, really good. He hopes that she can't see through him, hopes that that writer can't see through him. Even though he's just a writer, there's something more there. He had just met them today, but he could tell that Kate would have kicked him out the first day if he wasn't useful...either that or they were sleeping together. He didn't get that impression though. If they were sleeping together, it was a few one night stands and nothing serious. Her rule, not his. That was sexy to him.

Even though he knew he shouldn't, he was going to pursue something with her. He would be able to keep an eye on her when she wasn't at work, which would give him and Bracken an advantage. He wasn't sure though if the writer and her were together or not. He asked him if they were a couple and he told him no, which he smiled at. He then said he was going to ask her out and the writer seemed fine with it...well not really, but he told him that he was fine with it.

He didn't do anything that night, but he was planning on making his move soon. He got there early, made her some coffee (something that he had seen that she liked), and she gave him a smile when she saw him.

Besides an interrogation, he lays low for the day. He doesn't want to seem like he's clinging to her or watching her every move. He doesn't want her to catch on. He gets a call though from her and that makes him smile. He's not sure if it's because his plan is working or if it's because this a sign that she likes him. She wants to spare with him and the thought of that alone arouses him. He tames himself though and says that he'll meet her down at the gym.

He changes out of his work clothes and into a t-shirt and pants before waiting for her on the mat. As they spare, he notices something about her. Not that she's really good at this, but she's interrogating him . She's suspecting him of being involved in this robbery homicide...at least he's hoping that's the case and not that she's suspecting him of keeping her away from her mother's murder. So, he confronts her and gives her his alibi, which satisfies her. He's glad that this was all it was, but could imagine how it would be when she figures out he's hired to spy on her.

When they head upstairs, he notices the way the writer looks at him, like he wished he was the dirty cop. If only he knew what he was really up to. Even though he was pretty sure that he could take him, he was hoping that he wouldn't find out why he was getting close to Beckett.

They solve the case and the writer actually ends up being helpful. He can see why Beckett keeps him around...well sometimes he can see. Other times, he doesn't understand. When the case is over he meets her in the break room and asks her out to dinner. She accepts and he thinks he has this in the bag.

…...Until a few weeks later where she dumps him for what he can only assume is Castle. He thought things were going perfectly. He made sure that she was occupied so she wasn't looking into her mother's murder, made sure that they had fun, and hell he was even having a good time. But she dumped him and he was screwed.

He exited the precinct and called up Bracken. When he heard the voice on the other end, he spoke. "She dumped me for the writer."

There was a sigh from the other line. "Is she investigating?"

"It doesn't seem like it, but that can change. Do I try to win her back?"

"No, I'll send someone else in. Just keep an eye out in the meantime. Lay low, but see if she checks anything out of the archives. Do your job and report anything you see as a red flag to me."

"Yes sir." With that, he hung up and wanted to punch a wall. He didn't though. He passed a blonde woman walking into the precinct as he walked down the stairs. He normally would have taken a cab, but he was going to walk home to work off this anger.

When Demming got to his apartment, he saw that the senator was waiting outside his building. This worried him, since he knew what he was capable of. Demming walked over to him though and shook his hand.

"I found someone. He should be pulling up right about...now." With that a man on a motorcycle pulled up to the curb. He took off his helmet as he turned off his bike. "Tom this is Josh. Josh is going to be the one keeping his eye on Kate Beckett on the outside. Tom, tell Josh everything you know about Kate. I already filled him in that she rides a motorcycle and gave him this. I want to make sure that he sticks this time. Josh is going to be everything Kate Beckett wants in a man."

"What about the writer?"

"I got it covered. He's getting back together with his publisher. I set her up on a blind date that never showed...but the writer did. It looked like they were going to try and give things another shot from what I hear."

The plan was set, now all they had to do was put it into action.

She was at the bar, throwing back shots, when he walked over to her. "Rough day?"

She looked at him. He was kind of cute, but she wasn't sure if that was the liquor talking. "I guess you can say that. I broke up with my boyfriend."

"Ah, well that's definitely a reason to drink."

"Oh that's not the worst part. I broke up with my boyfriend in order to get together with this guy that I thought maybe we might be something more and just as I'm about to tell him how I feel, his ex-wife comes in and they're giving things another shot."

He waves the bartender over to two more shots. "This one is on me," Josh said before handing her one of the shots. They clinked their glasses together before they took their shots. "Wow, that's strong."

She laughed. "Did you expect it to be water?"

He laughed as well. "No, but I wasn't expecting that." She smiled. "I'm Josh."

"Kate."

"Nice to meet you, Kate. So when you're not here at the bar, what do you do?"

"I'm a homicide detective. How about you?"

"Heart surgeon." He could tell that she was impressed with that and that was good.

"Save any lives today?"

"A few, but I don't like to brag." She gave him a soft smile. "How would you like to get out of here?" She gave him a look that said she did not do random hookups. "Not like that. I mean go get something to eat that isn't peanuts and nachos."

"You have something against nachos?"

"No, but after a long day I was hoping for something more like a pizza or pasta and I would like some company."

She thought about it for a moment. "Ok." She got up from the bar stool and walked out of the bar with him.


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Now, I usually don't post an update so soon, but since I'll be on vacation next week I want to post a little extra. That and the fact that there are some that don't really trust me when I say that this is a Caskett fanfic I wouldn't have written this if it wasn't. All I ask is for your patience so this AU story can be told. I appreciate the positive reviews, favorites, and follows. It always means a lot seeing people that are enjoying my work. Plus, I love talking to other Castle fans, especially through my writing. I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

It had been three months and things have been going pretty well. Demming and Josh met every other week. It was always a Friday night and Josh would tell Kate that it was a poker night. He didn't think that she would follow him, but if she did they always met at a place that was known for people to come and play poker. Of course, they weren't there to play poker. They were there to meet Bracken and keep him in the loop of what Kate was doing. If one of them suspected that she was doing something that was related to her mother's murder, they met once a week. If Kate was suspicious, she didn't say anything.

Tonight, Josh called and set up a special meeting. Kate came over to his place and she was acting different. When he asked her if she was okay, she told him that Castle was back and that he was working with them again. He blamed Castle for all of this, for having Bracken looking into her. If she was just doing her job and leaving her mother's case alone before he came into the picture, he wouldn't have to worry about his girlfriend being murdered. Even though he was hired to keep an eye on her, like Demming he had grown fond of her. He didn't want something to happen to her, but at the same time he didn't want anything to happen to him either. He knew how powerful Bracken was. He was going to try to keep her safe though. He just hoped that she didn't do anything where he couldn't keep her safe.

He entered the place, through the back entrance, and headed up to their floor. He was let into the room where Demming and Bracken were there waiting for him.

"So?"

"The writer is back."

Bracken showed curiosity to this. "And?"

"He was the one that got her back into looking into her mother's murder, so with him back in the picture, he might do that again."

"Well, if he does, you two are there to tell me and we'll make sure that she doesn't get too far."

They both nodded before they were asked to go.

"Do you think she'll go back looking into it?"

Josh looked at Demming. "I don't know. I hope not though."

* * *

It was a few days after Castle had returned and Josh and Demming had met with Bracken. Castle was back working with Kate and things were good. Except, Josh saw that Kate was pulling away a bit. He wasn't an idiot. He knew that she still had feelings for Castle and now that he was back in her life he knew that those feelings had resurfaced. After he got done with his shift, he was going to go over to the precinct and meet Richard Castle face to face. Let him know that Kate was now off limits by showing up and picking her up. Even though Kate said that she would pick him up, he was going to surprise her.

When he saw her, she was with Castle and the others that she told him about that she worked with. He didn't make himself known right away, he just observed them for a few seconds before walking towards them. "Kate."

She turned around and he had all eyes on him. "Josh?! What are you doing here?"

"I got your text."

"The one that said that I would pick you up?" She walked towards him. She seemed happy that he was there. That was a good sign.

"Yea, well I was nearby."

"Josh this is Capetian Montgomery, Richard Castle, Detectives Esposito and Ryan."

"Hey boys." He got a confused boys from all of them. "Catch any bad guys today?"

"Everyday"

He looked at Kate. "All set?"

"Yea let me just get my stuff."

"Ok." This was exactly what he wanted. A little time to talk to Castle without Kate there.

"So, you and Beckett?"

He played dumb. "What about us?"

"You tell me."

The look that Castle gave him didn't go unnoticed. There was a pause before he spoke again. "You're the writer?"

"Yea! Yea...and you are...?"

"Kate hasn't told you about me has she?"

"What's to tell?"

Josh smiled and they were interrupted by Kate. "Hey, you ready to go?"

They said their goodbyes and as they walked out, Josh wrapped his arm around Kate's shoulders. He noticed that she wrapped her arm around him and that made him smile. They got into the elevator and that's when he spoke again. "So work was good?"

She nodded. "Yea, it was. Solved the case, but poor Esposito."

"Oh so that neck brace wasn't just part of the new uniforms?"

Kate laughed. "No. How about you? Save any lives today?"

"A few, but they're going to have to save some lives without me tonight cause I have..." Before he finished that sentence, his phone rang as the doors opened. He saw it was Bracken's number. "You go ahead, I have to take this." Kate nodded and walked out of the elevator. He walked out and walked to the side.

"This is Josh."

"Poker, 6pm"

He knew he had to go and couldn't say no. Especially when the reason for saying no to was going on a date with Beckett. He wasn't supposed to be falling for her. He was just supposed to be getting close to her and keeping an eye on her "Ok." With that, he hung up and went outside to meet Beckett. He gave her that look that he did when he was about to cancel their plans.

"Got another life to save?"

"Afraid so." Yours, but he didn't say that. "I'll call you later?"

She nodded and he pressed a kiss to her cheek. He rode off to meet Bracken.

Kate watched him leave and debated about what she was going to do now that her plans were canceled.

"Motorcycle boy rode off without you?"

She couldn't help the smile that graced her face when she heard his voice, but she made sure it vanished before she turned around to face him. She was still a little mad at him for not calling and for breaking her heart when he walked off with Gina. "Work called him back in."

"Then you won't mind if I ask you to join me for a burger at Remy's. I'll even get you one of those Strawberry shakes you like so much."

She bit her bottom lip. "You know my weakness, Richard Castle," she said before she motioned with her head in the direction of Remy's and started walking.

He smiled and took her helmet from her. There was silence for a bit, but he broke it. "So you and Josh are...?"

"Dating? Yea, Castle. Just like you and Gina are."

"How long have you two been...?"

"Dating? I met him the night that you left for The Hamptons, with Gina." She wanted to remind him of the fact that she was doing nothing wrong here. He was dating someone and she wanted to let him know that she was not going to wait around for him. She was going to move on with her life, with or without Richard Castle being romantically involved in it. She could see from the corner of his eye that that took him by surprise.

"Wait a second, you weren't seeing him when you were seeing Demming because Katherine Beckett..."

"No, I wasn't. I'm not that kind of girl. I broke up with Demming that day you left for The Hamptons with Gina."

"Why?"

She stopped, since one they had to cross the street and there were cars coming and two because he took her by surprise. "Why?" He nodded. "He just wasn't what I was looking for."

"And motorcycle boy is?"

"He might be. And his name is Josh."

There was silence until they reached Remy's. "I hope he makes you happy, Kate."

She looked at him and gave him a soft smile. "Thank you, Castle."


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: I'm hoping this chapter will show you that this is indeed a Caskett fanfic. I am NOT going to have them just jump right into it because this is not that type of story. Please be patient. Thank you for the favorites/follows/reviews thus far. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope for those who haven't been enjoying this so far (due to caskett not being together yet) that you enjoy the rest of this fanfic. Starting Sunday, I might not be updating this as much (since I'll be getting ready for my trip), so enjoy the daily updates while you can lol_

She was starting to get tired of Josh canceling their plans, but she was busy with work and she really couldn't blame him. That was one of the reasons she started dating him. She figured that he would be busy at work so when things got more serious, she could use that as an excuse to run. But she did want someone in her life. She wanted Castle. He was still with Gina though and she didn't want to break up with Josh just because he wasn't Castle. She did that with Demming and it backfired on her.

She was just about to head home, putting the 3XK case to rest for the night, when she got a call. She saw that it was Castle's land line. She knew that it wasn't Castle, considering that he was with Ryan, so it was either Alexis or Martha.

"Beckett."

"Kate, it's Martha. Richard's in trouble."

Kate's heart stopped. "He called you? Where is he?"

"I called him. I'm not sure. He told me that he loved me and I knew that he was in trouble."

"I'll find him." With that, Kate hung up the phone and told Esposito and Montgomery to follow her to the hotel, where she last knew Castle was. She wasn't even sure how she got there. She didn't remember. She just drove and hoped that Castle was alright. She knew now that the man that they had was 3XK and he just got away. She didn't care though if he got away, as long as Castle and Ryan were alive and well. She would never forgive herself if something happened to either of them, especially Castle.

She got out of the car, as soon as it was in park, and ran up the stairs with her gun in hand. She kicked down the door and saw Castle was there, tied up to the chair. He looked fine, but she ran over to him while the others checked on Ryan. She went behind him to untie him. "I'm so glad that you're okay." When she got him untied, she led him over to a paramedic, just to make sure that he was indeed okay.

She looked around a little bit, seeing if he left any clues as to where he might have ran off to, but he was 3XK and she wasn't expecting anything to be left. She sighed and headed down the stairs. She got him some coffee, from inside the hotel. It probably wasn't that great, but it was the thought. Kate sat down with him and handed him the cup of coffee, which he took. She wasn't sure why he let Castle live, but she was happy that he did.

"Why did he let you live?"

"To punish me. Make me pay for ruining his plan. Now he's going to kill again, all because I couldn't stop him. And I feel so..."

"I know the feeling."

"I know you do."

With that, she put her hand in his. She knew exactly what he was feeling. "Come on, Castle. I'll take you home." She moved her hand from his before she got up.

She took him home and as much as she wanted to stay, she knew that she had to get home. Plus, if he needed someone, he could call Gina. She had something else in mind to do anyways when she got home. When she got to her apartment, she made sure that Josh wasn't there. She told him about the spare key, in case of emergencies, but he had a tendency of using it to surprise her from time to time. She locked the door, including the chain. She didn't want him to surprise her tonight. Not when she was dealing with this.

She opened up the window shutters and looked at the murder board that she had set up. She started this in the summer. It took her mind off of the fact that Castle wasn't calling her and that he was back together with his ex wife. Sure, she had Josh, but with his schedule she couldn't count on him. She didn't tell Josh about this. She didn't trust him with this. She didn't talk about her mother's murder with him and she didn't plan on telling him about it. She looked at the board and tried to find something there that she hadn't seen before. That was until she heard the knock on the door.

"Kate? You home?"

She quickly closed the shutters. "Just a second." She headed over to the door and unlocked it. She gave Josh a soft smile. "Hey."

"Hey." He stepped inside when she cleared the doorway and shut the door behind him. "Busy day?"

She nodded. "A serial killer got away and it almost cost us Castle's and Ryan's life."

"They okay?"

She nodded. "Ryan's going to take a few days off and Castle, well Castle will be okay in time...I hope."

"He will be." She gave him a soft smile. "So, did you eat yet?"

"Um, no I just got home and was thinking about if I should shower or take a bath before I ate."

"Well, while you go do either one, I'll cook us up something." He pressed a kiss to her cheek before he made his way to the kitchen.

He didn't spend the night. She told him that she had an early shift and was tired from today. He told her that he was probably going to be leaving the country soon, to help people in Africa. Normally, she would be sad about this, but this was good. She could work on her mother's murder without him here. It still wasn't going to be for awhile, but it was something to look forward to. Maybe she should just end things with him if this is how she was feeling about him. She knew she wouldn't feel like this if she was dating Castle and he told her that he was going on a book tour. She shook that thought from her head as quickly as it entered.

She was just about to get comfortable when she heard her phone. She saw that it was Castle calling. "Castle? Everything okay?"

"Yea, I just..."

She knew why he was calling. "You want to come over?"

"I'm actually already here." With that, she heard the knock on her door. She got out of bed and hung up her phone. She unlocked the door and let Castle inside. He closed it while she went over to grab two wine glasses and bottle of wine. She poured both of them a glass before sitting down on the sofa. He took a healthy sip before he spoke. "How do you do it, Kate? Live with knowing that there's someone out there that you can't catch and know that they're going to kill again."

"It's not easy, Castle. I try to focus on the people that I do put behind bars and the justice that I get for others. Some day, I'll get my justice. They'll slip up and I know one day 3XK is going to do the same. And that day, you and I will both be there to catch him." She placed her hand in his the second time that night.

"There's no one else I'd rather have by my side."

She smiled at him. "Me too." She took a sip of her wine. "You're welcome to stay, Castle, but I do have an early shift tomorrow."

"I'll make sure to lock up when I go. Get some sleep, Beckett."

She got up from her seat on the sofa, but then she sat back down. She smiled at him before she spoke. "Maybe I can stay up for a little while longer."

The next morning, Josh figured he'd surprise her by bringing her breakfast. He knew Castle usually brought her coffee, but he wanted to bring her one so she wouldn't need Castle's. He used the spare key and unlocked the door. He placed the key back and was delighted to see that she hadn't chained the door. He wasn't delighted however when he saw the two wine glasses on the coffee table. He walked in more and saw that she was sleeping on the sofa, using Castle as her personal pillow. He walked out as quickly as he entered.


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: This chapter is for the four positive reviewers that reviewed my last chapter. I'm very happy to see that there are readers enjoying this story and appreciate the plot and reading how the relationship comes to life. I want to give you guys at least chapters 1-5 before I head off on vacation, so there will be another chapter coming tomorrow (might even get chapter 6 and 7 before I leave if I have the time/see you're still enjoying this story). I hope you all enjoy this chapter and thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows :)_

He picked up his phone and he wasn't sure who to call. He wasn't sure if he should call her and wake her up or if he should call Demming for advice. Hell, maybe he should just call Bracken that he was done. He knew that he would never have a chance with her as long as Castle was in the picture. But he wanted to protect her and he wasn't someone to order a hit on the writer. Plus, Kate would be in charge of finding out who killed him and when it got back to him, Kate would never forgive him. So, he called Demming.

"Demming."

"She's with the writer."

"When isn't she with the writer?"

"I went over to surprise her with breakfast and he's there on her sofa, with her sleeping on top of him."

"Clothed or..."

"Clothed, thank god. I definitely don't need to see that side of the writer."

"And if you did want to, Bracken might be setting you up with him instead of Beckett."

"Shut up. Do you think Bracken needs to know about this?"

"Not yet. See what happens when you go to "Africa". Speaking of, did you tell her?"

"Last night." He heard the noise of another call coming in. He looked at it and saw that it was work. "Got to go, work."

"No wonder why she believes you when you say you have a life to save." With that, they both hung up.

Kate woke up and wasn't sure what time it was. She was very comfortable and she felt like this was the best night's sleep she had had in a long time. For a moment, she had forgotten that she had fallen asleep on the sofa. That was until she felt Castle's arms wrap around her more and pull her to him.

* * *

"Don't get up yet. Stay in bed."

"Castle."

That woke him up and he gave her a sleepy smile. "Beckett? Hi."

"Castle wake up, I think I over slept." Castle released his hold of her and she got off of him. She headed into her bedroom and looked at the time. She sighed in relief. She still had an hour before she went into work.

He stretched as he asked, "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Castle, I don't have time for breakfast. I have to get to work."

"Pancakes it is."

She rolled her eyes and tossed the clothes she wanted to wear onto her bed. "Castle, go."

"Fine, but I'm showing up with pancakes. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

"That is if I don't shoot you before that."

"I'm going." With that, he got up from the sofa and headed out the door of her apartment.

* * *

As promised, he brought her pancakes and the usual coffee.

"So Beckett? Plans with Doctor Motorcycle Boy tonight?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't know yet. Maybe. Plans with Gina tonight?"

"No, she's not Gina my girlfriend. She's Gina my publisher since I haven't sent her the newest chapters of the Nikki Heat novel I'm working on."

"Someone is hiding."

"I am not hiding. I'm just..."

"Hiding," she smirked.

"Well see if I ask you to join me to the comfort food truck tonight."

She looked at him. "That's not very nice, Castle."

"Oh I think it is. And plus, it should be you paying after you took me to go see those male strippers."

She laughed and bit her bottom lip to make sure she didn't laugh too loud. "Fine, I'll get you some mac and cheese."

"And french fries."

"And french fries."

He smiled in his chair before he went back to playing Angry Birds.

* * *

She had bought him dinner and when she got home, she saw Josh waiting there for her, sitting on the sofa. "Hey. Sorry, I stopped to get something to eat. If I knew you were here I would have brought you home some."

"That's ok." He lifted up the blanket she had left there on the sofa from last night. "Fell asleep on the sofa?"

"Yea. Castle came over and I had a little bit too much wine. I fell asleep here and he left before I woke up this morning." She didn't want to lie to him. She fell asleep there last night because she was tired and fell asleep while Castle was telling her a story about Alexis as a kid.

"Dealing with a hangover today?"

"No, thankfully, I'm good." She sat down next to him. "How was your day?"

"Good. I was thinking that we could go for a late night ride."

She smiled. "Sounds perfect. Let me get my helmet."

While she was gone, he looked at the shutter that he had seen her open the night he came over there to make them dinner. She never opened that shutter and from the outside, he could see that she hand something covering the window. What was she hiding there? Was it pictures of Castle? He was about to go look, but he then heard footsteps and sat down on the sofa. He'd check tomorrow, while she was at work, what exactly Kate Beckett was hiding there.

"Ready?"

He got up and smiled at her. "Ready." They headed out the door and to the elevator. He figured before he looked without her permission, he'd ask her. "Kate, why don't you ever open the shutters to that one window?"

"It brings in too much light. Plus, I'm hiding something behind there that I don't want people to see." His eyes widen and she laughed. "You're really gullible, you know that."

He laughed. Maybe she really wasn't hiding anything there if she was kidding about it. Maybe it was just indeed just a window that let too much sun in and she just wanted it covered up. Or maybe there was more there. He'd leave it alone for a few days before he went looking to see what was behind those shades.


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: Posting a little earlier than normal today, since I have a few things to do. This is my first story where I'm getting mixed reviews, so thank you. I know that might sound crazy, but I do look at your suggestions and see if it's you or if it's me. I saw the one review from a guest that doesn't get the plot, so let me explain in case there are more out there. The plot of this fanfic is that Josh and Demming are working for Bracken. Josh is pretending to be her boyfriend, in order to keep tabs on her when she's not working. Demming is in charge of keeping tabs on her when she is working. Kate and Castle have feelings for one another, but like in season 3, they are either with someone else currently or can't admit their feelings to one another. SPOILER ALERT, they eventually do end up together. However, until that happens, I'm showing you through words how that comes to be and how (and if) Kate finds out about Josh and Demming. With that being said, enjoy this next chapter. Also, thank you (as always) for the reviews, follows, and favorites._

It had been a few weeks now since their comfort food truck dinner and Castle had broken up with Gina. Kate was tempted to break things off with Josh, but she knew breaking up with her current boyfriend to go try things with Castle didn't end well for her. She also couldn't help it that she felt like something was different with Josh. She blamed it on Castle coming back into her life, but she wasn't so sure that was it. She wasn't sure what to do, so instead of telling Castle how she felt or calling up Josh to break up with him, she did a little extra in her workout. That was when she got a call from the lead detective who worked her mother's case. He wanted to meet with her, alone. She couldn't go alone though. She needed someone. She called Josh, telling him that she would be late to their breakfast date, before she went to find the person she needed. She knocked on his door, hoping he was home.

"Beckett."

"Hey"

"Come on in."

She didn't move though. "Can we talk for a second?" He knew something was wrong. He didn't have to ask. He got his keys and closed the door behind him. They headed to the diner, where she was going to meet Raglan.

"I said no cops."

"He's not a cop," she said as she sat down.

"Then who is he?"

"Someone I trust." She moved her had to his knee, wanting him to know that she wanted him to stay and to remind herself that he was here with her.

They listen to him tell him what he had brought her here today for. He told her why he had written her mother's case off as gang violence. As he went to tell them more, a bullet came through the window and struck him.

Beckett and Castle duck down for cover as she yells out, "Everyone down." She can feel Castle checking her out, to make sure that she was okay. "It's not my blood. I'm okay," she said before she called for backup. Castle checks Raglan, to make sure he's still alive, but he finds out what they had thought to be true. He's dead. He makes his way back over to Kate.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine."

He knows she's not fine, but he won't get into that right now. Right now, he wants them both to get out of here...even though he desperately wants to just take her into his arms and let her know that she's safe and that it's okay for her not to be fine.

* * *

Something was up. Kate usually gave a reason as to why she was going to be late for their date, but this time it was a real quick, "I'm going to be late." He also knew that she wouldn't cancel on him unless it was something important, since he was leaving for "Africa" today. So, he called up Bracken.

"Hello?"

"Something might be up. Kate's going to be late for our date. She usually gives me a reason, but not today."

"I'll look into it. Thank you." With that, he hung up and dialed the number he had for Lockwood.

"Ah, senator. What do I owe the pleasure of? Is it time to kill that detective of yours you have me watching?"

"I need you to find John Raglan and kill him. He should be with Kate Beckett. Don't harm her...yet. Money will be wired to your account once the job is done."

"Yes, sir."

He hung up the phone. He knew that Raglan was looking to contact Kate. Demming had called him the other day that he saw that he had came in looking for her, but she was out and asked for her number. He knew that this would be something she wouldn't tell Josh about and he was going to make sure Raglan didn't tell Kate about him or anyone else for that matter.

* * *

Kate had been sent home, by Montgomery after her interrogation with Simmons. She was just sitting on her sofa, crying. She heard the knock on the door though and figured she'd go look to see who it was. She brushed the tears away and got up from the sofa. She smiled softly before she opened the door, seeing that it was Castle.

"Hey, Castle."

"Hey." There was silence for a bit. "Where's Josh?"

"Oh he's in Africa. Out saving the world."

"I um, brought you some..." He brought the flowers he was holding in her line of vision. "I just thought after everything...you might want...here."

She couldn't help but smile. This sweet man was here trying to make her feel better. She couldn't send him home or tell her to leave her alone, not when he was just trying to make her feel better. "Thank you. That's very sweet. You wanna come in?"

He didn't hesitate. "Sure."

She stepped aside and let him in. He closed the door behind him and she went to go get something to put the beautiful flowers that he had gotten for her in. As she did, he was talking about how he could sneak into the precinct and get her mother's file for her for them to do their own investigating outside of the precinct. She couldn't help the small smile that graced her face.

"What?"

"Come on, Castle. I gotta show you something."

She headed over to the shutters and opened them, revealing her own murder board to him.

"You know, I sometimes forget that you live with this everyday." She just nodded. "Josh know about this?"

She smiled. "No." She was tempted to say, "Just you," but she refrained.

"When did you start?"

"Over the summer. When you were in The Hamptons." She left out the part where she did this because she wanted to keep her mind off of him and Gina.

"And how far have you've gotten?"

She told him what she knew and then they went into her mom's files. Seeing if they could find anything that didn't make sense then, that made sense now. He went through the old pictures that she had and she went through the documents.

"I don't get to see you in action?!"

She smiled. "Trust me, Castle. It wasn't pretty." She never pictured herself smiling while going through old papers and pictures that her mother had, but sure enough, Castle was here making her do just that.

"Oh, now I have to see it." She had never been so glad that she didn't have any videos or pictures of her ice skating. He then found something. Pictures missing from the exposures, something that she had never noticed before.

"What is it?"

"An empty street."

She went to her computer, with the exposures in hand, so that they could get a better look at these photos. When she saw what it was, she couldn't believe it. "Castle, this is where my mom was murdered. I don't understand. These pictures were developed a week before she was killed."

"Why would she be taking photos of that alley?"

"I don't know. I always thought it was a convenient place for the killer to attack. It was dark, it was secluded..."

"What if there was more to it than that? What if she was looking into something that happened in that alley when they killed her?"

"I'd have to go into the old archives and reports and Captain Montgomery won't let me back in the precinct right now."

"I'll go." With that, he got up from his seat.

She couldn't do anything to stop him, knowing that he would say that he wanted to go and get these files, so she didn't say anything. She watched him leave and then looked back at the flowers he had gotten for her. "Be careful, Castle. I can't lose you too."


	6. Chapter 6

_AN: As always, thank you for the reviews, follows, and favorites. I do hope you enjoy this chapter. This chapter here is dedicated to my friend JJ (even though he's in another AN in a future chapter). Without him telling me that this story was great after I finished writing it, you wouldn't be reading this. Even though there are a few of you out there that still don't like this story, he reminds me that it's great and that's the review I truly take to heart. Enjoy :)_

He's tempted to call her, to tell her just to stay home and stop looking into this case, but that would make Beckett more curious. Even though they only dated for a little bit, he knew her pretty well. Demming didn't want something to happen to her. Even though he was working with her enemy, he was doing this to protect her. First he was doing it for the money and he figured how hard could it be to keep an eye on her. Now, he was doing this to make sure that she was safe, even if she had dumped him. Lockwood was out there and he was looking for Kate. Bracken told him not to kill her, but he knew that it was going to be changed, especially since she was starting to dig around again. Castle had just left the precinct with a file and when he went to go check, he saw that it was a file that was close to her mother's murder. He had no choice but to call Bracken. If he didn't call, Bracken would have found out and he would have him killed. As soon as he hung up the phone, he regretted calling. So that's why he was outside her apartment now, waiting in his own personal car, to make sure that Lockwood wasn't going to show up. He knew Kate would send a security detail home, so he made sure to keep hidden.

* * *

The door opened and he saw the gun in her hand. He should have known that Montgomery had called her. He walked into her apartment, with the file in hand. Before he could even sit down, she was talking.

"Castle, there's something I need you to do."

"Name it."

"Go home."

"Forget it. Fear does not exist in this dojo "

She should have known he wasn't going to make this easy. "Look, I signed up for this when I put that badge on, you didn't. It's not your fight."

"The hell it isn't. I don't hang around you just to annoy you. I don't ride up to murder scenes in the middle of the night to satisfy some morbid curiosity. If that's all this was, I would have quit a long time ago."

"Well then why do you keep coming back, Rick?" They looked at each other for a few seconds. She knew why he came back and he was telling her with his eyes why. It was because he wanted to be with her and she wanted to be with him too, but she couldn't risk it. Not again. She had Josh and things were...okay with them. She was perfectly fine with being single. It wasn't like she needed a man, but she wasn't going to dump another man to see if she could have a relationship with Castle.

"Look, I may not have a badge...unless you count the chocolate one Alexis gave me for my birthday, but I'll tell you this...like it or not I'm your plucky side kick."

"Plucky side kick always gets killed."

"Partner then." He sat down on the sofa and opened the file.

She couldn't help the soft smile that graced her face. She really didn't want him involved in this, but it was good to know that someone had her back. "Okay. What did you find?" She made her way over to him and sat down next to him. They looked through the file and saw what Castle had found. It's settled that they have to see what Joe Pulgatti knows. They get up from the sofa and are about to head out the door, but Kate stops him.

"Rick," He turns around to face her. "Thank you." He smiled at her before they made their way out the door.

* * *

Demming saw them leaving and cursed. "Fuck. God damn it, Beckett, stay at your apartment!" He starts his car and makes sure he has a good distance between them. He knows that Beckett is trained and doesn't want her to suspect anything. He hasn't called Bracken yet, just because he doesn't know where they're going. For all he knows, they could be going to Remy's...the likely hood of that though is low.

As Kate was driving, she kept looking at her rear view mirror. "Castle, you have your seat belt on right?"

"Yea."

"And you trust me?"

"Always."

"Good,...hold on tight," with that she made a sharp turn down a small side street and stepped on the gas.

"Woah, Beckett, what are you doing?"

"We're being followed, Castle. Did you see anyone following you on your way to my apartment?"

"No, I don't think so."

She saw the car back in her rear view mirror. "Damn it. Hang on, Castle." She made another sharp turn and another one right after that, moving in between cars hoping to loose the person following them. "Can you make out anyone in the car?"

Castle looked back. "They're too far away. I'd say slow down, but..." With that Kate speed up and ran through a red light. Castle closed his eyes as he saw what she was doing. "As cool as this car chase is, is it safe yet to open my eyes?"

She looked back at her mirror and saw that the car following her was stopped. She took another sharp turn and then a few more turns, just to be on the safe side. "I think we're good."

"Do you think it was Lockwood?"

"I'm not sure, but I wasn't going to take the chance to find out."

* * *

Everything that had happened after their car ride seemed to happen so fast. It seemed like just a few seconds ago her and Castle were at the diner this morning and now, they were in the car, sitting in front of a building where Ryan and Esposito were at...at least she hoped. There was someone guarding it and she wasn't sure how they were going to get passed him. When she interrogated McCallister earlier, he told her that she woke the dragon, but she didn't think that this was the dragon. She didn't think Lockwood was the dragon either. No, it was someone else and she wasn't sure who that someone was. She was going to find out though.

"I'm open to dumb ideas here."

"Good, cause I've got one." He told her his plan and she wasn't sure if acting like they were two intoxicated lovers was going to work, but she told him that she was open for dumb ideas.

She got out of the car and walked over to him, giggling in his arms and pretending as she couldn't stand without leaning on him. As they walked closer to him, the man standing guard walked towards them. Her heart started to race a bit, since it didn't look like he was buying their little act. "He's not buying it, Castle." She kept giggling and as she went for her gun, he stopped her. She was surprised, especially when she felt his hands cupping the side of her face. And then, it happened. He leaned in and kissed her. This was not how she wanted their first kiss to be like, especially since she wasn't really able to kiss him back with being caught off guard.

He broke their kiss and before she could talk herself out of it, she leaned back in and kissed him again. This wasn't like the kiss he placed on her lips though. No, she made this one more passionate. This is how she wanted their first kiss to be like...minus the whole saving Esposito and Ryan from an assassin and using the kiss as a way to distract someone keeping watch. She let a small moan escape her and let her arms wrap tighter around his neck, bringing him closer to her. God, she could kiss him like this for hours if she could.

When she heard the small chuckle that escaped the guard, that's when she got back to reality. She opened her eyes and quickly knocked him out with her gun to the back of his head. She stood their for a bit, trying to catch her breath.

"That was amazing." She slowly looked back at him. "The way you knocked him out...I mean..."

They were both silent for a bit, both knowing that his was talking about their kiss. She wasn't going to lie, it was amazing. She wasn't going to tell him that though. Not when she was still with Josh and that kiss was to just make sure neither they or Ryan and Esposito were killed. "Let's go," she said still a bit breathless.

* * *

He watched them from the car as they approached the building. "Becket, what are you doing? You know better than this." If he wasn't here without the NYPD knowing, he would have called for back up for her. He saw them walking like they had too much to drink and shook his head. "This must be Castle's plan." He saw her going for her gun and he went to grab his, but he then saw Castle stop her. "Castle, what are you..." He then saw him lean in and kiss her. He let a small chuckle escape his lips.

"Yea, that's definitely Castle's plan." He then saw Kate go in for another kiss and shook his head. "The only way you let yourself kiss him, huh, Beckett."

He took out his phone and sent a message to Josh. "Watching your girlfriend and her work boyfriend is like that couple on T.V that you know have the hots for each other...especially when you see them makeout." He was going to send it, but then he heard the sound of Kate knocking the guard out.

"That's gotta hurt." He canceled his text and called up Bracken instead.

"You better have good news for me Demming."

"They just knocked out the man that Lockwood had standing guard."

"Well, this is about to get interesting. Keep me informed." With that, he hung up the phone.

As soon as he hung up the phone, he heard the gunshots. He wasn't sure where they were coming from, but he was going to call this in (anonymously of course). He knew Beckett didn't and if the gunshots were from Lockwood, well Beckett or the others might not have a chance to.


	7. Chapter 7

_AN: After the news of today, I feel like I need to write a happy fic...but I promised you the next chapter. Enjoy and thank you, always._

Castle was in the back of the ambulance, getting his hand bandaged up, which the paramedic wasn't doing a very good job with in his opinion since it was painful. Even though this was painful, he would have done it again and again. There was no way he was going to let Beckett die in the hands of Lockwood or the hands of anyone for that matter. Not if he had anything to say about it. He was unwrapping it when Beckett hopped into the back of the ambulance and sat across from him.

"Hey Chuck Norris." That caused him to smile and she smiled at the fact. She reached over to his hand, seeing he was having trouble. "How's the hand?"

"Uh, excruciating." He watched her as she bandaged his hand. "How's Ryan and Esposito?"

"Hm, mild hypothermia, wounded pride. Guess which one will heal first?" She smiled at him and he returned her smile. "Thank you. For having my back in there."

"Always."

She smiled. "Come on, let me take you home." She helped him out of the ambulance, being careful not to touch his bad hand as she did so. "So, what's the story you're going to tell Alexis and Martha?"

"I don't think I can top the truth with this one. Punching out an assassin. Like you said, that's Chuck Norris status."

She got him home and headed inside with him. It was pretty late, so she wasn't surprised not to see Alexis or Martha in the living room.

"Not that I don't mind the company, but you don't have to stay, Beckett. I got it from here. Although, I'm not going to object if you want to undress me," he teased.

She rolled her eyes playfully. "How much pain medicine did they give you?"

"Oh that's not the medicine talking. You should know that by now, Beckett."

She shook her head as she made her way with him into his office. She sat down on the side of his desk as he sat down in his chair. "Seeing if you can type still?"

"Hoping that I can't since it's a perfect excuse as to why I can't meet my deadline next week."

"Oh, so that's why you punched him out?"

"Guilty as charged," he teased. There was silence between them for a few minutes and he noticed that she was just looking around his office. He had a feeling something was on her mind and she was debating on whether not sharing it with him. "Something on your mind, Beckett?"

She looked at him and sighed. "I think Josh is keeping something from me."

He wasn't expecting that to come out of her mouth. "You think he has a secret murder board?" He teased a bit, trying to let her know that she could open up to him.

She gave him a look before she spoke again. "I called the hospital, seeing if I could get an address for where Josh was working in Africa. I wanted to send him a little care package and they told me that he wasn't in Africa. He just requested some vacation time."

"Where do you think he is?"

"I have no idea, but I don't think it's Africa and if it is, he's definitely not donating his services to help sick patients."

"I'd offer to punch him, but I only have one good hand."

She smiled. "I just hope he's not in trouble."

"I'm sure he's okay, but he might not be when you interrogate him to find out where he was and why he lied to you about his whereabouts. Especially if you did what you did today and basically throw him into the mirror."

"He deserved it."

"Never said he didn't."

She looked at him and gave him a soft smile. "Castle, do you mind if I stay here tonight? They arrested Lockwood, but whoever hired him is still out there."

She definitely took him by surprised when she said that. "Yea, of course. You're always welcomed here, Kate."

She gave him another soft smile. "Thank you."

* * *

Demming watched her walk Castle inside and waited for about an hour for her to come back down, but she never did. The lights went out and he chuckled. "Guess that kiss wasn't just an undercover one." He drove off, knowing that she wouldn't be leaving here for the night, and headed to his place. He opened the door and saw that Josh was still up. He was staying with him until he was "back from Africa."

"You might want to come back home a little early."

He turned off the T.V. "Why's that?"

"Your girlfriend is spending the night with the writer."

"What?!"

He took off his jacket and hung it up. "I followed them to his place and waited an hour for her to come down. The lights were all off and there was no sign of Kate Beckett coming down to head back home for the night."

"Do you think?"

Demming shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, but they kissed tonight as well so I wouldn't be surprised."

"They kissed?!"

"It was a form of a distraction, but that didn't look like a distraction kiss. So, if it were me, I'd call your airline and get on the next plane."

* * *

Kate had woken up early and sneaked out before anyone else woke up. She sent a text to Castle, saying that she was called into work early and she was fine. She wasn't really called into work though. She just had to get her mind around the thoughts that were running through her head. She didn't want to have a conversation about their kiss, since she wasn't sure what to say to that. She unlocked the door to her apartment and saw that Josh was in her kitchen, making coffee.

"Josh? What are you doing here?"

He turned around and smiled at her. "I got an early flight back. Figured I'd surprise you and make you breakfast, but when I got here I saw that you were no where to be found."

"Yea, I stayed at the precinct. Needed to feel a little safer after everything that happened yesterday."

"What happened," he played dumb.

"I found a connection to my mother's murder. Before I head back to the precinct, I'm going to head over to the prison and see if he'll talk. I just came by to shower and get a new pair of clothes. Rain check on the breakfast."

"Yea, sure."

Neither one of them mentioned what they wanted to ask the other. She headed into her bedroom and he took a sip of his coffee.


	8. Chapter 8

_AN: Guess who brought her laptop with her on vacation?! That's right, I'll be posting a bit while here in Chicago. I might not update every day, but you won't have to wait a week for a new update. Thank you for the reviews/follows/favorites. I know we're all upset about Stana and Tamala, but don't you all worry. This fic is finished and I will make sure to post the finished product. I will also continue to write (when I get some inspiration) for the Castle verse. ABC might have made a bad move, but I won't let these characters just vanish. Especially when Stana/Kate has done so much for me. I hope my fellow writers and readers feel the same way. I do want to make a note that when it comes to Kate doing some digging in this chapter, I'm not 100% if that information can be seen this way. However, since this is fiction, I figured I could get away with it. Anyways, enjoy! :)_

It was Valentine's Day and she knew that she shouldn't be doing this, since her and Josh did have plans, but Castle needed this. His old friend had just been arrested for murder and they hadn't really spent that much time together since the night she brought him home with his bad hand. She wasn't avoiding him and he wasn't avoiding her. They worked together and he had came over to her apartment the other night, telling her that he was setting up a scholarship fund in honor of her mother, but other than that that's all they saw of each other. So maybe she needed this too. Plus, things with Josh weren't great. Ever since that night she got home from Castle's they were distant. He told her that he was most likely going to Haiti, which she wasn't sure to believe after the last time. She still didn't know where he was during that time, but she was going to find out.

Right now though, she was ordering a beer with Castle.

"So, where's doctor motorcycle boy taking you tonight?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know. Wouldn't be surprised if he canceled our plans."

"He still hasn't told you where he really was?"

She shook her head. "No, but I haven't asked."

"But you want to find out."

"Of course. I want to know if he's cheating on me or what he's doing that he can't tell me."

"The offer to punch him is still on the table."

She smiled. "Easy, Chuck Norris. I don't want you to hurt your hand again."

"Does he know you're out with me now?"

"No," she took a sip of her beer. "He probably thinks I'm still at work. I told him I'd call him once the case was solved and the paperwork was finished with."

"Ah, so you took me out to drink to avoid paperwork," he teased.

"No, I took you out to drink so I could get you drunk enough in order for you to do it, " she teased him back.

"I do not approve of this plan."

"I wasn't asking for your input," she smiled before she took another sip of her beer.

* * *

"It's Valentine's Day and she's out with him?! She's supposed to be getting ready to go out to dinner with me."

"Well from the nachos they just ordered I don't think she's going to want to be doing that."

"How'd you know they were here anyways?"

"I was in the same elevator as Ryan and Esposito. Overheard them talking that Beckett and Castle had gone out for a drink and how long it was going to take for them to admit that they wanted to be more than friends. That's when I called you and told you I was going to take you out to the bar for a drink. Did she say anything to you about the other night she spent with Castle?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Well, guess you're not the only one with a secret now."

"At least I'm not sleeping around."

"Oh, yea, cause working for the guy that killed her mother is a lot better," he chuckled.

"Hey, you are too."

"I'm not her boyfriend anymore though. She's going to hate me, but she might kill you."

"Lets go. There's nothing to report to Bracken with here."

* * *

Kate wasn't keeping track of time. She was having too much fun with Castle. They had a few beers and ended up ordering another tray of nachos, just because it was so good. She had heard him say something about her having to get to dinner, but she brushed it off and told him that she could stay longer. They had played a few rounds of darts, which Kate had won, and before she knew it, it was midnight.

Castle wasn't as tipsy as Kate was, so he helped her off of the stool and out of the bar. She giggled as she walked. "You know, Castle, this reminds me of your dumb idea."

He laughed. "Yea, well, it worked."

"No, that plan didn't work." She stopped and leaned in to kiss him before he could pull back, if he wanted to that is. She didn't kiss him passionately, but it was more than just a friendly kiss. She smiled as she pulled away. "Take me home, Castle."

They got into the cab and she rested her head against his shoulder. He thought that she had fallen asleep, but when he looked down at her, he saw that her eyes were open and blinked every few seconds. She was just silent. He didn't mind the silence, since he wasn't sure what to talk about. She had just kissed him and while it was a great kiss, he wasn't sure what it meant. She was a bit drunk, so she might not have meant it. When the surprise wore off and he was able to return her kiss.

When he felt the cab stop, he got out of it and helped her out as well. She leaned against him as they walked into the elevator. She didn't move until the doors opened and still leaned on him a bit as they walked to her apartment. She unlocked the door and she saw that Josh was sitting on her sofa.

"Josh? It's late..."

"Yea, it is. I was expecting you to have dinner with me 6 hours ago."

"We lost track of time. It's my fault," Castle interfered.

"You're damn right it is! It's Valentine's Day and you should have known that we had plans."

"Josh, it's fine. We were just out at the bar, having a few drinks. Esposito and Ryan were there too," she lied. She just didn't want to deal with him right now.

"No, they weren't."

That took both of them by surprise, but neither of them showed it. "We're you spying on me?"

"No, I called the precinct and Ryan picked up."

"They don't answer my phone, Josh. What were you doing spying on me?"

"I wasn't spying on you! I was wondering where my girlfriend was so that we could spend my last night here before I head to Haiti and I walked by a few places I knew you liked to go."

"I think I better head out...," Castle interrupted.

"No, Castle, you stay. I'm the one that's going to head out." With that, Josh exited her apartment.

Kate watched him leave, but she was still dumbfounded on how he knew where they were. "Castle, we didn't go to a bar that we usually go to."

"I know."

"So how did he know?"

"I don't know, Beckett."

"You probably want to wait a bit before you go out there. Sharing the same elevator with Josh isn't a good idea." He nodded and took her coat from her to hang up. "He's hiding something and not just about why he was spying on me."

"Maybe him spying on you is his secret."

"I don't think so. There's something more there."

"Don't stay up all night dwelling on this, Beckett. You need your rest."

She nodded. "I'm going to go to bed. Lock up when you go."

"Night Beckett."

* * *

The next morning, Kate got to work early. She wanted to see if anyone tracked her car or her phone last night. She saw that indeed someone did track her phone...Tom Demming.

"What are you doing trying to find out where I am?" She saw that there was also a few logs on both her car and her phone from him...one of them happening to be the day where she saw that she was being followed. He either was the one following her or he had sent someone to follow her. She wasn't sure what to do with this information. She wasn't sure if she should confront him or not...so she did what she always did when she didn't know what to do.

She went to call Castle. She knew he was on his way over here, but she wanted to tell him to skip the coffee and get here as soon as he could. She didn't have a chance to do that though, since she saw Josh walking in. She closed the screen that she had up, just in case Josh and Demming were working together to spy on her, which is exactly what she thought.

"Well, nice to know that you weren't just ignoring me."

"I should be."

"Kate..."

"No, Josh, there's something you aren't telling me and we need to start being honest with each other."

"You want to start with what you were doing at Castle's the other night when you said you spent the night at the precinct?"

"See, right there. Why do you know that?! I know you didn't come in here looking for me that night."

"I was driving by Castle's place and saw your car outside."

"That's out of your way. What were you doing by there?"

"Picking up an old friend to head to the bar with."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Kate..."

"No, I'm not telling you what to do, but if you go to Haiti...or wherever you're going since I don't know what to believe, we're done. If you stay, we'll try to work things out at one of our apartments and not at my workplace."

He leaned in a bit, but she looked passed him and saw Castle was coming in with two cups of coffee. He looked to where he saw she was looking and saw Castle there. "Of course...Well that's my cue to go."

"Bye."

Josh walked away and Castle took his place. "Everything okay?"

"Yea." She took the cup of coffee. "I need you to look at something." She waited for him to take his seat in his chair before she brought up the window. "Look at this."

He looked and saw that it was her phone and car tracker, from the NYPD. He then looked and saw the last person to log on to track her. "Demming is tracking your phone? And your car?"

"It seems that way."

"Someone clearly isn't over the break up."

"Castle, be serious. Look at the dates."

He did and saw that they were all when Josh either said that he knew where she was or when Lockwood came around. There were a few other days too, but those didn't make sense to him.

"You think him and Josh are spying on you?" She gave him a look that said that's exactly what she was thinking. "Why?"

"I don't know. I'm going to see what Esposito can tell me about Demming's past. See if Josh knew him prior to me dating him. It might just be Demming doing him a favor or..."

"Or it could be whatever this secret Josh is keeping from you."

She nodded. "I'm not sure if I should go down there and confront him or not."

"Don't. Find out what they might be doing, then go." He wanted her safe and even though Demming wasn't someone that he thought to be dangerous, the more they knew the better she would be when she did confront him.


	9. Chapter 9

_AN: I didn't have time to post a chapter yesterday, but this is the longest chapter yet, so that makes up for it (I hope)! Thank you for the follows, reviews, favorites, and sharing my fanfic. I see some of you on Twitter and Tumblr and I try to thank the ones I do see. Enjoy the new chapter :)_

He was sitting at his desk when Josh came in. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to Kate. She told me it's either we work things out or I go to Haiti and we're done."

"Bracken isn't going to like this."

"I don't like this."

"What happened when he found out that she broke up with you?"

"He hired you. Our breakup though wasn't my fault. Yours however will be your fault."

"Not helping."

"I need to call him."

"Good luck. Glad I'm not in your shoes. I have a case to solve, so if you don't mind." He waved Josh off so that he could go to work.

Josh walked out and Castle sighed, glad he went the other way. He told Beckett he had to go call Alexis before they went to the storage unit, but really, he was going to check on Demming. He didn't think Josh was going to be there, but he was. He heard almost everything. Who was hiring these two to watch her and to date her? He wanted to tell Kate, but he wasn't sure what to say.

"Hey Beckett, your boyfriend and ex-boyfriend were hired to date and spy on you, but I have no idea who." Yea, that didn't sound good. He had to get out of here though before he was cau...

"Hey, Castle. What are you doing down here?"

"Oh, hi, Demming. I was just scoping things out, seeing if any of these floors looked different or had any different equipment. I'm thinking about going more into a few other departments besides homicide in my next book."

He nodded. "Nothing wrong with being thorough."

"Exactly. Anyways, I probably should head back. I told Beckett I'd only be a few minutes. We have places to go."

"Oh yea, where you heading?"

He wasn't sure what to tell him. Should he lie? He was probably going to find out anyways, tracking her phone and car and all. "Some storage locker the victim had. There might be a bomb there. Here's to hoping that there's some cool things in there at least if it's not what we're looking for."

Demming nodded before heading back into the the bullpen. Castle made his way to the elevator, hoping that he didn't walk over there too quickly. He got into the elevator and pressed the button for the homicide floor. He still had no idea what he was going to tell Beckett, but he knew he had to think of something. When the doors opened, Beckett was there waiting for him.

"Ready to go?"

"Ready."

* * *

Little did he know, he was going to be spending a good amount of time in a containment tent with Kate. When they got to the storage locker, there was radioactive material in there and they were going to be kept in this containment area until they were given the all clear. He sat across from her.

"How long do you think this is going to take?" He figured he'd make some small talk before he dropped this bomb on her.

"Not sure."

There was some silence for a few seconds before he broke it. "Kate, there's something I need to tell you." He looked at her to see that he had her full attention. "When I went to go call Alexis, I didn't exactly call her. I went to go see if I could find anything on Demming's desk that would help us figure out why he was following you."

"Did you find anything?"

"I didn't have the chance to look, but I heard something."He paused for a few seconds. "I heard him talking with Josh. Both him and Josh were hired by someone to watch you and in order to do that, date you. I know that sounds crazy and I know I might sound like a jealous man here, but it's the truth. I don't know who hired them, but they're watching you for someone else to be one step ahead of you."

"You're right, it does sound crazy..." She was silent for a bit before she finished speaking. "But I believe you, Castle. Do you think they're working with Lockwood?"

He shrugged. "I don't think they'd be working with him, but whoever hired Lockwood..."

"The Dragon."

"Do you think it's safe to keep Josh around?"

"I don't know. It's not right for us to be in this now pretend relationship, but if they want to watch me it's probably better I know who exactly is doing the watching." She paused for a second. "You know, the reason why I pursued this relationship was because we were both so busy. I was able to keep one foot out the door. I just want to have someone that I can be there for and they can be there for me and we can just dive right into it together."

"Kate, I..." He was interrupted by a man in a hazmat suit.

"You guys are free to go."

They looked at each other and Kate got up first. There was still a murder to solve and she wasn't going to discuss what they could have.

* * *

Josh had made an appointment with the senator, to talk about what Kate had told him earlier. They made sure to do it in his office, but under a different name. Unless Bracken had a bad heart, there would be no need to meet with a heart surgeon. He got there on time and his secretary escorted him into Bracken's office.

"Josh, come sit. What is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"I can't go dark for a week. I know me leaving gives you opportunity for you to see if she starts investigating, but she told me this morning if I leave, we're done."

"I'm not surprised. I knew something like this would happen sooner or later." There was a silence between them for what seemed liked hours to Josh. "You'll stay. If you can, try to be busy at the hospital."

"Will do." He got up from his seat and was about to leave, but Bracken spoke again.

"Josh, do you think she has any idea about you?"

"I'm not sure. She knows I'm hiding something, but I don't think she knows what."

"Lets keep it that way. Our partnership is over the second she finds out, understood?"

Josh swallowed, knowing exactly what that meant. "Understood."

"I'll see you Friday for our poker game."

With that, Josh exited the senator's office and headed out the building. He got into his car and headed towards the precinct.

* * *

Kate wasn't at the precinct though. She was currently trapped in a freezer with Castle. She was trying to find a way out, but the door was shut, her gun wasn't going to get them out of here, and there were no cell service. Her and Castle tried to knock the door down, but that didn't work either. So they were now just sitting in the middle of the freezer, away from Jamal's body, huddle up next to each other.

"Castle...are you there?"

"Yea, yea. I'm right here." He tried bringing her closer to him, but he was just too cold to move.

"I can't feel anything." He wanted to lean down and kiss her lips, let her feel something, but he couldn't. "I always thought, being a cop, I'd take a bullet. Never thought I'd freeze to death."

He was able to move just a little bit closer to her. "Hey, we're not dead yet."

She looked over to his hand, wishing that she could touch him, but she was too cold. "I just wish that this was one of your books and we could rewrite the ending."

There was silence for a little bit, but he broke it. "I'm...I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For being me. For going rogue into this. If we hadn't gone..."

"Shhh...Castle...You were right. We found the bomb. We were just too late." She turned, slowly, so that she could face him. If she was going to die here, she wanted him to be the last thing she saw. "Castle..." She slowly moved her fingers to his chin. She wanted to bring it to his lips, to feel what his lips felt like one last time, but she couldn't. "Thank you...for being there."

"Always."

Her hand dropped to his chest and her eyes closed as she rested against him. "I just want you to know how much I..." She couldn't fight it anymore. The cold took her and her hand dropped from his chest.

"Kate? Stay with me."

She heard his words and whatever power she had left in her she used. "How much I..."

"Kate, that's it come on...stay with me."

"I love..." She had enough strength to tap his chest before her hand dropped again.

"I love you too, Kate. Now, stay with me..." He didn't hear a response from her this time. "Come Kate, stay with me..." He brought her as close as he could to him. He wasn't sure how long he stayed awake for, but the last thing he remembered was seeing some light and going to wake up Kate.

The next thing he knew, he was waking up in the back of an ambulance. "Beckett?! Where is she?"

"Sir, I'm going to need you to calm down."

"Where is she?"

"She's going to be fine." His attention turned to the voice that he had heard before. "You're both fine. Found you just in time."

"Josh?"

"Hey." As much as one part of him said he didn't want to save Rick Castle, the doctor side of him took of the jealous boyfriend side...especially since him and Kate weren't in a real relationship. "You're recovering from a mild case of hypothermia. You're going to be a little sluggish for awhile. Get some warmth and some fluids and you should be alright."

"I thought you were in Haiti..." Even though he saw him this morning, he knew his flight would have left by now.

"Didn't go." He took out the IV that they had in Castle. "OK. Lets see if we can get you to sit up."

He did, a little weak at first, but he was able to sit up. "How long was I out?"

"About an hour."

"The bomb..."

"Searched the entire warehouse. It's gone," Esposito came in right on cue.

"How'd you find us?"

"We figured you were with Beckett, until Josh came in and when we couldn't contact either of you, we figured you were out there doing something incredibly stupid against orders. So we tracked Beckett's car, searched the area, until we found a light from the storage container," Ryan answered his question.

"I'm glad we could be this predictable. Thanks." His eyes then focused on the girl that was a few feet away from Ryan, wrapped up in a blanket. She was alive and looking at him. He got out of the ambulance and walked over to her, but first grabbing a blanket to wrap around him. He saw the smile that was on her face as he made his way over to her. "So, your boy's here?"

"Yea."

"So what does that mean to you."

She looked at him. "It means we have a chance. A chance to figure out what he's hiding and find out whoever the Dragon is. He could have easily let us die, Castle. He might be hired to watch me, but he's protecting me."

"So your relationship...?"

"It will stay in tact...for now. I feel bad for using him, but this might be the only way I can get justice for my mother."She let her hand that was closest to his take his and held it. "Until then, what I said in there..."

"I know and you know that I feel the same way about you."

She gave him a soft smile before she let go of his hand. "Come on. They want to debrief us."

* * *

Kate headed back to her apartment with Josh while Castle went to his place. "Get into bed. You need your rest. I'll go get you some extra blankets and make you some soup."

She didn't argue with him, she just went into her bedroom and got her robe. She put it on, along with a pair of her slipper socks (once she took her shoes off). She got underneath the covers and got herself comfortable. A few minutes later, Josh was coming in with a tray of soup and a blanket. "Thank you," she said as she took the soup. She took a sip of it before she spoke. "Josh, we need to talk."

"I know. Kate, there's some things that I can't tell you. I am hiding something from you and I hope once you find out, you'll understand. I'm not cheating on you, I promise you that. I just can't tell you what I'm doing."

She wanted to ask, wanted to know who The Dragon was, but he wouldn't tell her. She knew it. "Ok...I don't know what you're doing, but ok. Can you tell me anything else?"

"No."

"I'm not cheating on you with Castle. I have feelings for Castle, but I never slept with him."

"Then why aren't you with him, Kate?"

"At first, it was because I had feelings for you too, Josh. I made the mistake of dumping my last boyfriend to see if I could work things out with Castle and that didn't end well. Now, it's because I know something might happen if I'm not with you. I know you're working with someone that has eyes on me, but we're both going to pretend like I don't know that and everything is going to be like how it was." She took a chance here, hoping that letting him know she knew wouldn't hurt her in the end.

"Ok...I don't know anything." He looked over at the clock on the side table. "You should get your rest. There's still a bomb out there and I know you're going to be looking for it first thing in the morning." He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "I'm glad you're okay."


	10. Chapter 10

_AN: The devil on my shoulder, by the name of JJ, told me to make this chapter M, so enjoy. He was also shaking his head that I didn't do this sooner. I deleted two guest reviews because I don't really care for what they said (especially one about Kate). You can say what you want about how I should write a story, but when you attack Kate that's not right. I also want to say sorry for not being clear it seems as to what Kate's plan is. She's not with Josh now. She's just pretending to be with him so that Bracken doesn't harm her or him. I made it a little clearer in this chapter. Those reviews are helpful, since I don't want anyone to be confused. Anyways, enjoy this chapter and if you're not into the M storyline, you're welcomed to wait for the next chapter and not read this. Enjoy :)_

They had tracked down the bomb and he had disabled it with just seconds to spare. She hugged him tightly before she kissed him and if he could save the world every day just to have her kiss him like that, he would do it. The moment was quickly over though and they headed back to the precinct, where they went their separate ways. Her and Josh had been pretending to be with each other, to protect themselves. He took extra shifts at work, so he didn't have to see her often, and she spent time with Castle. They hadn't crossed that line yet, since she was never sure of who was watching them. They shared kisses in private and had gone out to dinner and the movies a few times. Josh came over for dinner once a week and if he stayed over, he slept on the couch. He still couldn't tell her who hired him and who killed her mother, but she was hoping that he would crack sooner rather than later.

Today though, she wasn't looking for her mother's killer. She was looking for Royce's. Of course, Castle wasn't going to let her do this alone. He booked a ticket to LA and bumped her to first class. When she saw him, he knew that she wasn't happy with him being there, but she didn't kick him off the plane and didn't ditch him once they got off of it. They didn't get very far today, but they made some progress in finding Royce's killer.

Right now, he was opening the bottle of wine that he had picked up before they headed back to the hotel and pouring it into two glasses as they discussed the case and why exactly Royce came to New York, for the home field advantage. Of course, that ended up not in his favor in the end.

"I was so in awe of him, Castle, when I first met him. I just hung onto his every word. And later, I realized he was just making up stories to mess with me." They shared a smile and there was silence for a few moments before Kate broke it again. "I can't believe that I'm never going to see him again."

"You know what I thought when I first met you?" He waited until he had her attention, which wasn't long. "That you were a mystery that I was never going to solve. Even now, after spending all this time with you, I'm still amazed at the depths of your strength, your heart...and your hotness."

"You're not so bad yourself, Castle." They looked at each other for a few moments, getting lost in each others eyes. "Is that why you fell in love with me?"

"Cause of your hotness? Yes," he teased, which caused her to laugh and that cause him to smile.

"Glad to know we fell in love for the same reasons."

"I knew you kept me around to be your eye candy," he teased again. There was silence for a few seconds before she spoke. "Why did you keep me around, Kate? We both know that you could have kicked me out if you really wanted to."

She took a sip of her wine before she placed the glass back down. "Because I trusted you. You saved me, when we were in that woman's apartment, by tackling me to the ground when you saw our killer with a gun. Then you distracted him in order for us to take him down and get out of there alive. Even though you weren't a cop, I trusted you with my life from that point on. I knew you'd always have my back and I know that's never going to change."

"I'll always have your back, Kate. Always. I'd take a bullet for you any day of the week." He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "We should probably get some sleep."

She nodded before she got up from her spot on the sofa and headed towards her room. Even though that they were...well they didn't have a name for it, she still didn't want to get used to sleeping with him while she was "with Josh". She turned back around and saw that Castle was still on the sofa. She gave him a smile. "Night, Castle."

"Night, Beckett."

She closed the door and rested against it for a few seconds. She wanted to go to him, wanted to show him how much she loved him. She wasn't cheating on Josh, since they weren't in a real relationship and she highly doubted there was someone here spying on her to show The Dragon that she wasn't with Josh anymore in the way he thought they were. She opened the door and expected him to still be on the sofa. She instead saw him closing the door. "Castle," she said before the door closed.

He stopped closing the door and opened it to where he was facing her and looking at her. She looked at him and before she could stop herself, she ran over to him and jumped into his arms. She wrapped her arms and legs around him before she captured his lips in a passionate kiss. He didn't waste anytime with parting her lips with his tongue and exploring every inch of her mouth before tangling his tongue with hers. He felt the moan that escaped her and into his mouth and it caused him to hold her tighter to him.

Since it was just them, he didn't bother closing the door before carefully walking them to the bed. She angled her head, to deepen their kiss, before he had the chance to lay her down. He let the kiss go on for a few more seconds before he broke it. He didn't go far though. He trailed his lips down her neck, nipping as he went. He was careful, where he wouldn't mark her skin. One, since he knew they would be in contact with possible suspects tomorrow and because if they did head home tomorrow, he didn't want anyone seeing it on her neck. That didn't stop him though from sucking at a sensitive spot on her neck for a brief second. The moan that came from her was definitely worth it.

Kate had loosened the hold that she had around him, moving one of her arms to her side, while the other ran her fingers through his hair. She loosened her legs from around his waist, so that it would be easier for him to move if he pleased. He tore his lips from her skin when he felt her tugging at the hem of his shirt. She took his shirt of of him and tossed it to the side, not caring where it went. Kate then leaned up to capture his lips in another passionate kiss. She moaned into his mouth when she felt the squeeze to her breast. She was so into their kiss that she hadn't noticed that his hand hand sneaked up her shirt.

His hand moved from her breast and his fingers went to the clasp of her bra. He undid it before he broke their kiss again. He took her shirt off of her, tossed it to the side, and then slid her bra straps down her shoulders. He took it off and tossed it to the side as well, not caring where it went. His eyes traveled down to the newly exposed skin, but before he leaned in to give her breasts the attention they deserved, he looked at her.

"You sure about this?"

"Yes, Rick. I'm sure." She used his first name to emphasis that she was serious about wanting to take this next step with him.

He pressed a soft kiss to her lips before he let his lips travel down her throat. His lips made it to the middle of her breasts and he nipped at the skin. He then made his way to her left breast. He teased her nipple with his tongue before he pulled it into his mouth to suck hard on the sensitive skin. He would have grinned when he heard her moan, but his mouth was a little busy at the moment. When he was satisfied, he moved to her right breast and gave it the same attention.

"Castle..." He was driving her crazy and he hadn't even taken her pants off yet.

He looked up at her, making sure that she was saying his name out of pleasure and not because she was having second thoughts about this. Even though he had seen that it was indeed pleasure, he moved his mouth from her nipple and trailed his kisses downward. He often dreamed of what Kate Beckett's skin felt like against his lips, what sounds she would make, how she tasted, where she was the most sensitive (other than the obvious places), and now he was finally finding out. When he got to her pants, he moved her legs that were loosely around him before he took her pants off of her. He was tempted to take her panties off as well, but he was going to tease her a bit first. His lips placed nipping kisses across her waistline as two of his fingers ran up and down the length of her. The moans that were coming from her were making him slowly forgetting his whole teasing her plan and just taking off the rest of his clothes and giving them what they both desired.

He moved his lips from her skin and moved a bit, so he could take his pants and his boxers off, kicking them to the side. He then moved his hands to the last article of clothing and slide them down her gorgeous long legs. He tossed them to the side.

"I was going to take your clothes off for you."

He smirked. "Next time." With that, he moved in between her legs and took her into his mouth. He groaned against her, loving the taste of her and knowing that it was him that was making her wet. He felt her fingers in his hair, as if to say to keep him there. He released for a few seconds, only to run his tongue up and down her a few times. He circled her entrance with his tongue and let the tip of his tongue enter her a few times before making his way back to her clit. He moved his one hand, so that he could easily let two of his fingers enter her.

"Castle!"

He groaned against her skin and sucked on her harder, letting her know in his own way what he wanted, he wanted her to have her orgasm with his mouth and fingers. It wasn't much longer before she did have her orgasm. She screamed out his name as her head tilted back and her legs twitched. He moved his mouth from her, but kept his fingers inside of her for a few seconds longer, making sure that she had an amazing orgasm. One of what he hoped to be many that night. He removed his fingers from her and brought them to his mouth, sucking her essences off of them. He then moved so that he could place soft kisses to her beautiful face.

"God...Castle."

He smiled against her skin. "Doing okay there, Beckett?"

"Perfect." She opened her eyes and looked at him. "But now it's your turn." With that, she flipped them over so that she was now on top of him. Before he could protest, she captured his lips in a passionate kiss. He knew that she wanted to return the favor, but he wanted to have his orgasm when he was inside of her. He'd let her explore his body for awhile though. Until it got too much where he had to be inside of her.

Her lips traveled down his neck and like him, she made sure that she didn't mark him. For him, if she marked him it wouldn't matter so much. He could say he had a one night stand in LA, but she knew that it would be better if she didn't mark him. As she made her way down his neck and to his chest, she found a few of his sensitive spots and she was loving the groans that were coming from him. She found the spot right above his right nipple really sensitive and she made sure to give it some extra attention. She ran her tongue over his nipples before she trailed her lips down his chest. Another sensitive spot was right above his belly button, which for some reason she found amusing. She didn't laugh though, she just smiled against his skin.

It wasn't long before she gently took him into her mouth and started sucking on him. She hummed around the length of him every so often, which caused a louder groan to escape him. She loved that and she kept that in the back of her mind for future reference. She was just about to start sucking on him a little harder and a little faster, when she felt him tugging at her hair.

"Kate, stop."

She moved her mouth from him and gave him a confused look. "Do you not like that? Because the sounds you were making..."

"No, I love that...but I want to be inside of you."

She smiled. "That can be arrang..." Before she could finish her sentence he flipped them, so that she was on her back again.

"You can ride me another time," he winked at her before he captured her lips in a passionate kiss. As his tongue entered her mouth, he positioned himself and entered her in one swift motion. She moaned into his mouth and let the kiss go on for a few more seconds before pulling away.

"God, Castle...you feel..."

"Amazing..."

She nodded, agreeing that she was feeling the same thing he was.

"Are you on..."

"Yea, we're good," she got out before she leaned in to kiss him passionately once more. She teased him with her tongue, just a bit, running it over his top lip before letting it enter his mouth. She then bucked her hips into his, letting him know that he could move.

That's exactly what he did. He started moving deeply inside of her, keeping the pace somewhat slow at first, but then speeding it up just a little bit after a few strokes. He loved that she was moving her hips with his and that her legs had moved to wrap around him again. He moved his lips from hers when breathing became an issue. He picked up the pace more, when he felt closer to losing control. He could feel that she was close too. Her moans were getting louder and he was pretty sure that was a sign as well.

"God, Castle!" She screamed when she had her orgasm. No one had ever made her scream before. Not like Castle.

As soon as he felt her let go, so did he. "Kate!" He kept moving his hips for a few more seconds, she had stopped moving hers, before he fell against her. He made sure not to crush her though. "I love you...I love you, Kate," he whispered breathlessly in her ear.

"I love you too, Castle."


	11. Chapter 11

_AN: Thanks for the reviews (even the sarcastic/not that nice ones) , favorites, and follows. I hope you enjoy this chapter. There's only two more left, so I do hope you enjoy these final chapters._

She woke up draped in the white sheet that he had covered their bodies with the night before and her head resting against his chest. When she opened her eyes, she was a little confused as to where she was, but that confusion didn't last long. She remembered last night and the pleasurable soreness between her legs remembered last night as well. She stretched out a bit, trying not to wake him, but she wasn't successful.

"Stay in bed," he said as his hold on her tightened.

"Castle, we still have a case to solve."

"Knowing you though, it's probably 6am and I don't do anything after 8am."

Her tone turned seductive. "Even if it's showering with me."

His eyes opened. "I'm up."

* * *

The three men sat around the poker table, looking at their cards. None of them were speaking, until Bracken broke it.

"So, what's the update on Kate Beckett looking into her mother's case."

"She headed to LA. He mentor was murdered. She's busy with that. I saw the look in her eyes before she left. Her mother's murder is the last thing on her mind right now."

"Great. But just in case. I hired a new assassin. His name is Maddox. I will be contacting him if you two give me a reason why I should. I would much rather use Lockwood, but he does nothing for me in that cell and getting him out of there is going to cost too much. Maddox is good. Gets his target every time."

Josh and Demming glanced at each other, both hoping that it wouldn't come to that.

"Well, I don't know what you two have, but I have a royal flush. I'm pretty sure I'm the winner here."

* * *

They had caught the man that killed Royce and were now on their way home. Castle was sleeping next to her and she had her head resting against his shoulder. They had to stop the physical contact once they got back to New York, so she was taking advantage of the time that they had. She closed her eyes as she rested against him and wished that she could have this all the time. She wasn't sure how long she was going to have to pretend to be in a relationship with Josh. She was hoping that it wasn't going to be too much longer. One, being that she wanted to solve her mother's murder, and two, she wanted to be with Castle publicly.

"What's wrong?"

She looked up at him, seeing his eyes were still closed, but he pulled him closer to her the best he could. "How did you know I was thinking?"

"You might be a mystery that I'll never solve, but I do know you pretty well."

He did. He knew her better than anyone. "I'm just hoping that we find out who The Dragon is sooner rather than later. I don't want to keep us a secret too much longer and I just want to be with you."

"I do too, Kate, but I'd wait forever for you. Don't think that I'm just a mouse and you're teasing me with cheese that I'll never get. I know we'll be together someday and when it does, it will be the best day of my life."

She smiled as she placed her hand over his. "Mine too, Castle. Mine too."

* * *

When the plane landed, she saw that she had a message. She pulled Castle aside, so that she could listen to it, and when she did she wished she would have landed earlier. He saw the look in her eyes and he knew that the message that she had received was not good.

"Kate, what's wrong?"

"Lockwood. He escaped. His court hearing was pushed up and he escaped. He also killed Gary McCallister. He escaped on a helicopter."

He wrapped his arm around her. "We need to get you somewhere safe."

"Castle, I don't think he's after me. I mean, obviously if I get in his way, yea. But I think he's after the third cop that was involved with McCallister and Raglan."

"You want to go to the precinct and see what we can find?"

She nodded. "I think that would be best."

* * *

He turned on the T.V and saw the news about the former assassin that he hired had escaped. "Well well. Looks like someone got help from the inside."

"I did."

Bracken turned around, facing the now wanted Lockwood. "How'd you get in here?"

"Not that hard, but you have your secrets and I have mind."

"What do you want?"

"I'm going to kill Roy Montgomery and Kate Beckett. I'm not asking for permission here. I just thought you should know that your problem is going to be taken care of."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I'm going to give Roy an offer he can't refuse. It's either his family or it's Kate Beckett. Once he gives me her, I'm going to kill him as well. Or maybe him first and then her. I haven't decided yet on the order."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Cause since I didn't kill your target, I'm still under contract with you."

He laughed. "That ended when you went to prison. But I tell you what, I'm in a generous mood. I'll give you another shot. But if you fail, you won't be going to prison this time. You'll be dead."

"That's a lot of talk for a senator."

"Trust me, you have no idea what I'm capable of. But I'm only paying you for the detective. Montgomery is your own plan."

"Done. I'll be by tomorrow night to collect my payment."

* * *

The helicopter that Lockwood got away in was found, but no Lockwood. They also found out who helped Lockwood get out of jail...but the found him not breathing. She was at her desk, trying to figure out who this third cop was. Was he after him? Was this third cop helping him? She wasn't sure. She sent Ryan and Esposito to try and find out who this third cop was and how he was involved. Castle had gone home, so he wasn't there for her to talk to. As she was walking towards the elevator, Castle was walking in.

"Hey, did you think of something?"

"Um, no. I came here to talk to Montgomery. I'll meet you at your apartment, okay?"

She nodded. "Ok."

She walked into the elevator and watched him go into the captain's office. She had no idea that her dad had came to visit Castle to tell him to get her to back down and that he was going in there to ask Montgomery to get her off of this case.

She headed to her apartment and saw that Josh was waiting there for her. "Josh? What are you doing here?"

"Stop, Kate."

"Stop what?"

"Stop looking into Lockwood. Into your mother's murder. You're going to get yourself killed."

"Not if you or Demming don't tell The Dragon that I am."

"It's not about us anymore. He's after you. He wants to kill you, Kate. You put Lockwood in jail and I can't say anything that will help protect you."

"I'm not going to let that happen."

"Kate, you need to stand down."

"I'm not going to stand down. Lockwood needs to go to jail and this Dragon needs to be caught."

"Yea, cause Lockwood in jail worked out really well the last time."

Kate glared at him. "I need to get justice for everyone that they have killed."

"I know you do, but you need to stop. Kate, I can't protect you from this. You're the only one that can at this point. Run, go somewhere where they can't find you. Leave tonight, as soon as you can."

"I'm not running, Josh."

"Fine, throw your life away Kate Beckett. Think about Castle, think about your dad. Then decide if this is really worth it. I hope the next time I see you won't be in the morgue. I won't be coming back here, Kate."

"Goodbye, Josh."

With that, he left her apartment as soon as Castle was coming in.

"Everything okay?"

"Yea, he's trying to get to me stand down. I told him no and we "broke up"." Castle was silent for a little bit. "Castle..."

"I think it's a good idea."

"Castle..."

"Kate, you could die. You know what this guy is capable of and you know what The Dragon is capable of. I know you want justice, but everyone associated with this case is dead. You know they're coming for you."

"Montgomery has a protective detail on me," she cupped the side of his face. "I'm fine. I have my gun."

He moved her hand. "That's not going to be enough to stop Lockwood, you know that. Beckett, I don't think we're going to win this."

"Castle, they killed my mother. I can't let them get away with that."

"They're going to kill you Kate and if you don't care about that, think about how that's going to effect the people that love you. I am not going to let you throw your life away. I'm not going to let yourself get killed. I love you too much to do that. I don't know what I'd do without you. You and I, we deserve to be happy."

She closed her eyes for a few seconds before she opened them. "I love you too, Castle. I do. And you're right, we deserve to be happy...together. But I don't know if I can be happy if I can't get justice for my mother. Not when I'm so close."

"You can be, Kate. I promise you." He cupped the side of her face. "I will make sure you're happy every single day. I know we might get under each other's skins at time and it's not going to be perfect all the time, but I promise you, if bringing you a diamond necklace each day will make you happy, I'll do it. If getting you those cupcakes you liked in LA makes you happy, I'll do that. I will do anything to make you happy, Kate...but I won't let you throw your life away."

She was silent for a bit, thinking about what she should do. She loved Castle, but this was her mother's case. She looked at him. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay...I'll stand down. I want a life with you, Castle. And I have faith that someday, I'll find out who The Dragon is without putting myself in the line of fire." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "But most importantly, I have faith that you'll make me happy...cause you already do."

He captured her lips in a loving kiss. He kissed her like his life depended on it, making sure that this was real and he wasn't dreaming that Kate Beckett just said that she would stand down. When he broke away, he rested his forehead against hers. "Thank you. I know how much your mother's case means to you. I promise Kate, we'll get him one day...just not today."


	12. Chapter 12

_AN: Thanks for the reviews/follows/favorites etc. I know I surprised a few of you of having Kate stand down, but I always wondered if they were together in season 3 if she would have backed down when he told her to think about the people that loved and cared about her. So, I went a different route. Anyways, enjoy this chapter. I don't really want to give away too many spoilers, but with the news this week of Stana being fired and the possible threat of Kate Beckett being killed off, I'm not going to do anything that ABC might do to this character. Enjoy :)_

He opened the door to Demming's apartment and saw him packing his things. "You almost ready?"

"Yea. I'm not sticking around for Bracken to send Lockwood after me. I'm not going to be around when he gets rid of us or when someone goes looking into her files to see if they can find anything on who killed her. Bracken isn't going to protect us."

"I tried to get her to run. She wouldn't listen."

"That doesn't surprise me."

"Did you take out the money from your accounts?"

"Just about. Left a little in there to make it not look that suspicious. You have your last shift tomorrow night?"

"Yea. I tried to get out of it so we could leave tonight, but it's the ER and we're short handed."

"You can take the doctor out of the hospital, but you can't take the doctor out of the doctor."

"I'd expect something like that from Castle."

"You think he's going to kill him too?"

"If he's there with Kate, I don't think he's going to leave any witnesses. Plus, he did punch Lockwood in the face multiple times the last time they saw each other."

"True. You know, in September I wouldn't care if he killed the writer or not. Now, I'm just hoping that Beckett gets to him before he gets to anyone else."

"Then Bracken is just going to send Maddox on her."

He sighed, knowing Demming was right. "What if you..."

"Fuck no, I'm not doing it. I'm not going into the line of fire with Lockwood. I don't want Kate to die, but I'm doing what she should be doing."

* * *

Kate woke up to the sound of her phone going off. It was the middle of the night, but not too late. She and Castle had gone to bed early, due to jet lag and the fact that they had made love after she agreed to stand down. She pulled the sheet over her more, covering her bare breasts, before she picked up the phone. She saw that it was Montgomery. She was confused a bit.

"Beckett?"

"Kate, meet me at the hangar. Bring Castle."

Before she could ask him why, he hung up. Kate looked over to Castle and nudged him. "Castle, wake up." He groaned, not wanting to get up obviously. "Castle, Montgomery called. We need to meet him at the hangar. He didn't say why."

Before he could respond, he heard his phone going off. He saw it was Montgomery. "Speaking of." He picked up the phone. "Castle."

"Castle, I don't know if Kate's going to call you or not, but meet me at the hangar. I need you there to get her out of there when the time comes."

Castle had no idea what he meant by that, but before he could ask, Montgomery hung up. He looked over at Kate. "Did he say why you specifically?"

"No, why?"

"Cause he wants me there to get you out of there."

"Lets go. This sounds like he's in trouble."

They got up, got dressed, and Kate drove to the Hangar. Before they exited the car, Kate gave Castle her spare. "Just in case." He nodded before they got out of the car. They headed into the hangar, where they saw Montgomery there in the shadows.

Everything after that happened so fast. Montgomery told her that he was the third cop, he told her why he brought her here, and he told her that this was his stand. She wanted to stay there with him, but Montgomery told her that she had to go and that was Castle's cue. As Castle dragged her out as she told him that she forgave him. She cried in Castle's arms, as he tried to keep her quiet so Lockwood wasn't aware that they were here. When the shooting stop, she escaped from his arms and ran into the hangar. She was too late though. Montgomery was gone.

* * *

Castle was at her apartment, waiting for Ryan and Esposito to arrive. She was looking at a picture of herself and Roy. "Hey."

She turned around and faced him. "Hey."

He wrapped her arms around her and she rested her head against his chest. "I know it's a funeral, but you want to bet on how many times Esposito says, "I hate this hat"?"

She smiled softly as she tightened her arms around him, thankful that he was trying to make her smile on this horrible day. "12."

"19. If you win you..."

"If I win, you have to do that thing you did to me last night."

"The one where I gave you multiple..."

"Yep."

"Deal. And if I win, you have to show me what you do with ice cubes."

"Deal...but not tonight."

"No." He tightened his arms around her. "Not tonight. Tonight we just fall asleep next to each other and remind each other we're right here, that we're both alive."

"I'd be up for a shared bath and maybe some wine."

"I think that could be arranged." He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head before they heard the knock on the door.

"That's them." She pressed a soft kiss to his lips before she pulled away from him to get the door.

* * *

"Hello?"

"It's time."

"Where is she going to be?"

"Her captain's funeral. She's going to be saying a few words. Take her out then. The money will then be wired to your account."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"I have to go to his funeral. It wouldn't be right if I didn't."

"And then you'll meet me at the hospital?"

"Yep. Bags packed and ready to go. Did you find your passport?"

"I did."

"Good. I don't know where we'll be going, but we might need it. Even if it's just as a guide for when we make one for a new identity. We're not going to be tied to Bracken and the murders he has committed."

* * *

Castle was surprised to see Demming there at the funeral, but he knew he was there as a sign of respect for Montgomery. Kate already told him that Josh and him had stopped watching her, so he knew it wasn't for that reason. He watched Kate as she spoke, letting her know that she was right there with her, that her words were true. He gave her a soft smile when she looked at him and said "to stand by you." He would always be standing by her. Even if she had told him that she was going to not back down that night, in the end, he would still have stood by her.

He looked off into the distance and saw a reflection of sorts. He found that odd. He didn't know what it was, until he saw Demming look back and quickly getting up from his chair. It was a shooter.

"Beckett!" He lunged for her, but before he could make it to her, there was a gunshot.

He looked down at her, looking for the wound. He found it and put pressure on it. "Kate. Hey, it's going to be okay. Stay with me okay."

She looked up at him and cupped the side of his face. "I'm sorry, Castle."

"Shhh, no it's okay. You're okay."

"I should have stopped looking sooner. Should have just been with you."

"No, no, Kate it's me. I opened up the case again. I..."

"Shhhh, Castle." A single tear escaped her eye. "I love you." With that, her eyes rolled back into her head and they shut.

"Kate...no, stay with me."

Lanie came rushing over to him, when they knew it was safe. "Keep pressure on that, Castle."

"Did they find him?"

"Javi and Ryan went searching. Demming is looking too. An ambulance is on it's way."

"Is she going to make it?"

"I don't know, Castle. But Kate Beckett is the strongest woman I know. If anyone can survive a bullet to the heart, she can."

When the ambulance got there, they carefully helped her onto the stretcher and Lanie took over.

"I'm going with you."

They got into the ambulance and as soon as they got in, Beckett's heart stopped.

"No, no, no, Kate." Castle took her hand in his. "Come on baby, come back."

Lanie and the other paramedics in the back of the ambulance helped revive her and her heart started beating again.

"That's it, Kate. Fight." He placed a kiss to her hand. "Don't give up, Kate. Don't leave. Please, don't leave."


	13. Chapter 13

_AN: This is the last chapter! I hope you enjoy it. I don't know if I'll be writing too soon. Between the news about Stana/Beckett and the fact that I don't have an idea right now, I'm not sure when inspiration will strike me. I'm hoping it won't be too long. Anyways, thank you all for the support, the favorites, the follows, and the reviews. Enjoy :)_

She was wheeled into the operating room, without Lanie or Castle. Josh was told, with his back to her, what he was dealing with. When he turned around, he saw her. "God damn it, Kate."

"You know her?"

"She's my ex-girlfriend." He picked up the tool he was going to need in the meantime while they paged another doctor. He wasn't going to let Kate die.

When the other doctor arrived, he went out to the waiting room to find Castle. "This is your fault!"

"My fault?! You're the one that is working with the person that killed her mother!"

"If you didn't go opening up her mother's case, there would be no need for me to be working with him." With that, he pushed Castle against the wall. "If anything, I thought you could tell her to stand down, but you just pushed her right in front of him."

"I did tell her to stand down. She listened to me, unlike you. It was just too late."

"I'd watch your back, Castle. He's coming for you next."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, that's a promise if you try to avenge her death, if she dies." With that, Josh walked out.

Castle sat down next to his mother and she wrapped her arm around him. "He's right you know. This is my fault."

"Darling, this is not your fault. Katherine doesn't think that and none of us think that."

"I could have..."

"What could you have done? She would have found out about the knife that was used in that crime scene and how it was the same one that killed her mother. She would have figured out that Coonan was the one and we would be right here."

* * *

It had been a few days since Kate had been shot and she still hadn't woken up yet. He went to visit her everyday and made sure to bring a new set of flowers with him. He sat down in his usual chair and took her hand in his.

"Hey, Kate." He pressed a soft kiss to her hand. "Are you going to wake up today? I miss seeing those gorgeous eyes of yours. I know you might have been thinking that I just said that the first day we met, but I meant it. You do have gorgeous eyes. Of course, that's not the only thing I find about you to be gorgeous." He was going to say more, but then a nurse came in.

"Hi, Mr. Castle. Nice to see you today."

"Nice to see you too, Jennifer. Just wish it was in different circumstances as always. How's she doing today?"

"Kate's doing great. I'm going to change some things here and take a few easy and small tests. Don't let me disturb you."

"No, it's okay. As much as I love talking to Kate, I do think sometimes I'm crazy when no one talks back."

"It's all natural. We never know for sure if they can hear us or not, but everyone talks to their loved ones when they're like this. You're not crazy."

He gave her a soft smile before he turned his attention back to Kate. "You here that. Someone finally thinks I'm sane."

"Well I wouldn't go that far," Jennifer teased.

With that, they heard a cough come from Kate.

He stood up and looked at her, still holding her hand. "Kate?"

She coughed again a few times and her eyes opened just slightly. Jennifer took control and told Kate to relax as she took the tube out. "Welcome back, Kate."

Kate looked over to Castle and gave him a soft smile. He returned her smile with one of the biggest smiles she had ever seen before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "God, if I knew someone teasing me would wake you up, I would have done that a few days ago." She gave his hand a squeeze, the only thing she was capable of doing right now. "I'm going to be staying right here, Kate. You can go back to sleep. Just don't take as long to wake up this time."

She gave him a soft smile before she softly got out, "I promise."

He called her dad, letting him know that she was awake, and then he called Ryan (who was going to tell Esposito, who was going to tell Lanie). He made sure that she had some water when she woke up and fixed some of the flowers that she had gotten. When he finished, she was awake again. She pointed to the water and he helped her take a few sips.

"You're staring at me...I must really look bad."

"No, I just thought I'd never see you again."

She gave him a soft smile. "Still here. Just in pain."

"You want me to get the nurse?"

"No, no. Want to stay awake. Want to be with you."

He smiled softly at her as he moved his one hand to brush a strand of her hair back. "Okay, but if the pain is too much..."

"I know. I'll call." She was silent for a bit before she spoke again. "Castle, what happened after?"

He didn't really want to talk about this now, now that she had just woken up, but she wouldn't stop asking until he told her.

"Esposito, Ryan, and Demming went searching for your shooter, but they only found the gun. Demming told them that they went by the name Maddox. We haven't been able to find anything though and Demming wouldn't say who The Dragon is. He left before Ryan and Esposito could interrogate him. No one has seen Demming or Josh since that day. We're not sure if The Dragon had them killed or if they took off. We're at a standstill and we're not going to look into it anymore. We all know what happens when we deal with something like this."

Kate nodded. "Like you said, Castle. One day, just not today. Everyone else okay?"

"Everyone is okay. Shaken up a bit, but okay."

"Good." She looked at him. "You okay?"

"I'm better now that you're awake and I know you're alive. You died twice in the back of that ambulance, Kate. I was so scared that I lost you."

"Can't get rid of me that easily. I still have years of making sure I ruin your crazy theories with my logic."

He laughed. "Yes, yes, you definitely do." He leaned in and placed a soft kiss to her lips. They were a little chapped and she didn't have a lot of strength to kiss him back like she would have a few days ago, but he didn't care. He needed this and he could see that she did too.

When he pulled away, she spoke again. "So, Castle. What now?"

"We make sure you heal and I make sure to keep that promise of making sure you're happy, every single day."


End file.
